Mother
by FeralRaven
Summary: The Mother is the leader of a zombie pack, she cares for each member of the group, should they do as she command. *Full summary inside**NEWER BETTERER SUMMARY!*
1. Prologue

_Summary: The Mother is the leader of a zombie pack, she cares for each member of the group, should they do as she command. When she became infected, her mind went through little mutation, but her lust for human flesh is stronger than ever. Thanks to her clear mind, and the help of a rather clingy fellow Hunter, she just may turn the zombie world upside down._

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead, or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape or form. Very few of these characters belong to me, otherwise, everything belongs to Valve.

This is a bit of a prologue, and if it seems rushed, sorry. I was really excited when I started writing. Please report any typos you may see in the text and let me know if you like it. Also, critiques would be nice. (However, this does not give you permission to be a douchebag. Honestly, I can't tell you how many times I've run into these kind of people.) Please, enjoy, and let me know what you think.

()()()()()()

2 Months after first infection…

She had lost her husband in the carnage, and she had no idea where her children were. When the infection had reached her area, she sent them to their uncle, because of his skills in hunting and his impressive weaponry knowledge. They would be safer there, she thought to herself. She would find them later after finding their father…She had no idea it would end like this.

Victoria sat motionless in the middle of the Safe Room, holding the pistol loosely in her bloody, injured hand. All of her Survivor companions had been picked off by Smokers and Hunters. By some miracle, Victoria had managed to get away with only an injured hand. A weird looking thing had bitten in when she was reloading. It was a new zombie that had been waiting for her in the water, she didn't recognize it. She killed the thing easily and ran, the thought of immunity constantly on her mind.

But now she realized something…something horrible that drove her insane with every second she thought about it.

Her hand leaked more blood than she had in her, but she remained unaffected by it, unhindered by all the blood dripping down onto the dank floor. With a grimace, Victoria muttered to herself, "I've been infected. I'm not immune. I'm going to die…I'm not…" she sobbed quietly, gently setting her pistol down. She had thought about amputation, but she remembered the movies. Zombie bites are an immediate infection, no matter what you do. She had thought about suicide, but then she remembered her children. She had wanted to see them, she wanted to know if they were okay.

Suddenly, something slammed against the Safe Room door, and at first Victoria thought it was a Tank, but then she heard human voices, "It's no good, Coach, it ain't budging."

"Well, we'll have to try someplace else, then. C'mon, no use stickin' around here."

"Don't worry about it Ellis. You tried,"

_Survivors! _she thought in glee. The voices began to fade, and in a panic she got up onto her feet and took a giant leap towards the door, "Wait! Wait, please," she gasped, hearing her voice changing. She had to make this fast.

Four Survivors waited outside her Safe Room door, looking at her as she stared back at them through the bars. "Hey…Hey, can you guys do something for me?" She was desperate for the safety of her children. If they agreed to look for them for her, she could die happy at least.

The man with a cap and overalls approached her first, "Well sure, ma'am. What can you do for us?"

"I…I can't do anything. You see, I've been infected and I don't have long. Please, let me speak." Her eyes began to hurt. A warm sticky liquid began to leak from her tear ducts. "Please, hear me out!"

The big black man that reminded her of a little league coach stepped forward, "Okay, lets hear it."

Victoria smiled widely, giving her the look of insanity, "Oh, bless you sir! Bless you…" she reached into her pocket and took out a photo. She slipped it through the bars of the Safe Room, and the man with the cap took it. "These are my children. They're with my brother, Tommy, further down the road, in a forested area, there's a cabin that Tommy uses for hunting. It's a long way, but please go see if they're okay. I won't last long enough to see them again, but if you find them, please take care of them."

The black woman spoke next, her voice seemed soothing, "Are you sure you can't come with us? We've got plenty of supplies. You won't be any trouble."

"No! No, I've been…" Against her will, a low growl rumbled in the back of her throat, "I've been infected for a…while now. There's no helping me. Just go see if my children are okay. They're names are John and Mary. When you find them, let them know who you are and…and…" she felt herself slipping, "let them know that Mommy did her best. Tell them and she couldn't find Daddy."

It was silent for a bit. Victoria could no longer feel any pain, and she growled again. "Please…find my children."

Again, silence. With each passing second, she felt her heartbeat slow, and her knees grow weaker. Silently she begged for answer before it was too late.

"We'll find your kids, sweetheart. Don't worry about it." The words had belonged to a man in a bloodied suit. She couldn't look at him anymore. She felt tired now. "We'll go look for them now. Come on, guys." The rest of the group seemed surprised at his willingness to do this for her, but they went along with it without a word. As they left, Victoria keeled over.

"Thank you…" she murmured, knowing they couldn't hear her anymore. "Thank you, sir, so much."

She could hear shouting and gunfire in the distance, but she was too tired now to care what was happening. Her children were safe now, she thought, a small smile dawning on her face. They're safe! They're safe, they're going to be okay! They're going to be…

…

Victoria woke up feeling rejuvenated. At first she thought the entire thing had been a dream, the whole zombie apocalypse and all. She felt just fine! In fact, she hadn't felt this good in a long time. Yes, the apocalypse was just one, nasty, horrifying…

Wait a moment. There was a smell she didn't notice before. It was such a delicious smell, and there was a delightful taste on her tongue. _"Friend eat? Must eat or become cranky."_

Blood was dripping to her open mouth. Victoria opened her eyes. The entire room was covered in shade. A Hunter was crouched above her, holding a severed arm between it's teeth. It seemed friendly to her, but why it was trying to offer her human meat, and why she was sitting there, letting it happen instead of screaming hysterically just baffled her. She tried to refuse the offering, but then, impulse happened.

She jumped up, grabbing the hunk of meat between her teeth. The Hunter let go of it immediately and crawled away a few feet. Victoria chomped away at it, all thoughts of humanity leaving her mind. The fresh meat tasted so good, and the more she ate, the hungrier she got. She finished eating as she got to the hand, and looked up. Was the Hunter speaking to her?

"_Not hungry anymore? Need more food?"_

Victoria stood up, feeling a bit shaky. Why did she do that? She was a damned cannibal! Just like those accursed creatures!

…just like those accursed creatures…just like those…

Her fingers, now more like claws, were coated in fresh blood from devouring the freshly severed arm. It had tasted…almost heavenly. The noises that a Hunter would normally make was replaced by broken sentences that she understood perfectly. Her vision seemed different to. It was dark in this room, she knew, but she could see just fine.

"_Oh lord!"_ she shrieked in horror, _"I've become one of them!"_

"_Friend okay? Friend hurt?"_ It kept calling her friend. She looked at it, _"Friend?"_

"_I…I'm okay. I'm a little surprised. How did you find me?"_

Oh lord, she was talking to it! The Hunter shimmied up to her, _"Found still living. Alive and sleeping. Planned on eating you, but got lonely. Wanted friend."_

Zombies got lonely? That was honestly quite surprising. The very thought of an undead being like a Hunter needing company made Victoria want to laugh right in it's face. But for some reason, she had forgotten how to laugh.

"_Need more food? Food near, humans near. Can hear them now."_

She could hear it too, the faint sounds of gunfire and shouting in the distance.

"_Need to go before gorilla man comes. Food no good crushed."_

Gorilla man? He must mean the Tank. As much as she hated to admit it, Victoria craved more human meat. The thought of it made her sick, but, fortunately or unfortunately (she would never be sure), her hunger overpowered her sick feelings. To get the meat was worth the risk of running into a Tank. She agreed, and then the Hunter ducked under a hole freshly made in the wall. That must've been how he got in in the first place, she thought to herself, hesitating only slightly before following him. What happened next was an eruption of chaos.

The taste of human meat was so refreshing, it made her nearly forget her more human instincts. While they attacked the Survivors, it became clear to Victoria what kind of zombie she had turned into. The way she moved, the way she fed and attacked, the sounds she made, and the reason she had attracted a Hunter made her realize that she had become, well, a Hunter! But there was one thing she couldn't understand: that she still had the ability to understand anything at all.

The mutations had seemed to have stopped before they reached her mind. She could even "speak" more properly than the Hunter, who seemed to be keen on sticking with her. The more she thought about how unaffected her brain was by all of this, the more confused she became. Perhaps the infection is different with all Special Infected. Or maybe she would lose her sanity after all, and it just took a little time for the mutation to work on the mind as well. She chose to ignore this matter for now. Night was falling, and the Hunter was moving on. She chose to follow him for now. It was the best she could do until she figured out what was happening, or until she went full-blown zombie.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape or form. Please do not sue me.

Inform me of any typos I may have missed while proofreading. Feedback is much appreciated.

Chapter 1:

The mutations had done a lot to her physical form, but very little had been done to affect her mind. The only thing that changed that she knew of was her taste in foods, and the further down the road she went, the more she accepted her newer, bloodier tastes. She honestly couldn't remember something that tasted better.

Oh, yeah…memory…

There was a lot she couldn't remember: faces of family and friends, parts of her childhood, social events that would otherwise be meaningless to her. There was a massive part of her memory that was missing as well. The more she thought about it, the more it made her head ache. It was something important-she knew it was important- and it bothered her that she couldn't remember what it was.

Becoming a zombie had done a lot to her, mainly to her physical abilities, appearance, and her appetite. Her mind, except for her memory, had been unaffected. Oh yes, she also now lacked the coordination to open doors now. She is able to jump to accurate locations and pounce on Survivors from great distances and still manage to land a hit…but she couldn't figure out to latch her hand onto a door. She would become so frustrated by it that she would just bash the door down instead of thinking any more about it.

Her eyes were now a tiny bit more sensitive to light, but Victoria noticed that regular Hunters were far more sensitive to light, (she noticed when her Hunter friend mistakenly looked up at the sun and started screaming like a banshee) and she figured that that was the reason why most Hunters wore hoods.

The Hunter, who she now called "Scourge" followed her wherever she went. He talked with her often, and tried his best to keep her fed. Believe it or not, zombies needed food too. It was more of a keeping-up-stamina thing and a eat-to-live thing. There were differences, but they were technically the same thing when injured Special Infected needed to run away from too-good-to-kill Survivors.

When the Survivors came, Victoria would just learn from Scourge. He told her what she needed to do, and just leave the rest to instinct. Plain and simple.

Her first attempt at pouncing a Survivor could have gone better. She missed by inches, and nearly got pelted by gunfire as she scrambled for the safety of a turned over vehicle. Scourge made up for her by pouncing the stronger one while a passing Charger and a Smoker took care of the others. They made it look so simple, why couldn't she do it? Ashamed, she kept herself low in her hiding place and waited for Scourge to find her.

_ "Friend hungry?" _Scourge dropped a full liver at her bloody, blistered feet. She felt that she didn't deserve it, but he insisted that she eat anyway. Honestly, she was surprised that he would even think to save a piece of meat for her. She thought that zombies would stop at nothing for the taste of fresh human meat. It took a lot to resist temptation like that. She was grateful to have him around.

Scourge was something else…he looked different from other Hunters, but maybe she was only noticing it now because she herself was now a Hunter. Perhaps all Hunters were different. But still, there was something different about Scourge. For one thing, he was the only other Special Infected that would tolerate her, whereas everything else hated her like she was public undead enemy number one. Scourge's hoody, though covered in dried blood, was the remnants of who he used to be before becoming Infected. It was a purple zip-up hoody zipped only halfway up, and he also sported worn sneakers and torn-up jeans. If she had to guess, Scourge was probably a skater boy before he died.

To tell the truth, Victoria was saddened that someone like Scourge should suffer a fate like this, but without him, she would have to brave this world alone. She'd have been dead within the first hour.

A Tank sprang from nowhere while they were cutting through a small town It was angry, just like it had been before Victoria became a Hunter. She felt like just avoiding it for now. Scourge had the same idea, apparently, and he kept pulling her in one direction, trying to get away from the dreaded "gorilla man."

No other Survivors were seen that night. But that was fine, they had eaten enough anyway. Scourge comforted her on her failed chance at achieving a kill, and Victoria was somewhat cheered up. "We try again tomorrow. Fresh kill come tomorrow. For now, rest."

Scourge was right, no matter how primitive he made it sound. She no longer cared why he wanted to stay around her, he made being undead bearable, and that was fine enough for her. For now, they would sleep. Killing could wait until tomorrow.

()()()()()

_"…you're what?"_

_"I…I'm pregnant, Daniel." the girl said, her voice barely above a whisper. The boy stood before her, staring dumbfounded at her face, never truly making eye contact. Then he looked at the floor, trying to speak, but not finding the words. He looked back up at her, seeing the tears in her eyes. His first instinct was to leave, to run away from this. But then, he stopped before his legs even twitched. "What are we going to do?"_

_ He held his breath for a moment, then embraced her. "Don't worry about it. We'll figure it out." Something had to be done about this. Something needed to be done about this._

_ He wasn't ready to be a father_.

()()()()()

There was a sense of sorrow in the morning air when she woke. Victoria shook the stiffness out of her limbs, and stretched out. Scourge wasn't there with her. The spot where he lay before was now cold.

She was surprised to know that she had dreamed last night. She didn't even know zombies could dream. She would say that the dream meant nothing to her, but the name "Daniel" rang a giant bell in her head. Was it one of her missing memories? She didn't know. After a few moments, she stopped thinking about it. If it was a missing memory, it didn't bother her as much as any of the others.

What really concerned her is that she had been jerked out of the dream by an awful noise. There was an ear shattering scream. It didn't exactly belong to a Hunter, whose screams were more dominant that angry. It couldn't have belonged to a Spitter, because her vocal chords were too burnt up by the acid for her voice to carry this far. The Tank's screams were too angry, not exactly ear shattering either. So that means it had to be…

_"Witch!" _ she hissed. Slowly, Victoria climbed over to the window. She was near the top floor of the apartment complex, but she couldn't see the Witch from where she was. Most of her view was blocked by other taller buildings. By the sounds of it, Survivors were nearby, and they had startled the Witch, and one of the Survivors hadn't gotten away quick enough. _"I'll have to leave soon, even as I am I'm no match if a Witch manages to clip me. Where is Scourge?"_

Unfortunately he was nowhere in sight, and her question would have to go unanswered for a moment. (She just hoped he was okay) Something down in the streets caught her eye, and she was easily distracted by it.

A lone Survivor was running across the road! The Witch must have chased him off. Victoria licked her lips; just one Survivor shouldn't be too hard. It was the entire group of four she had the trouble with, and attacking Survivors that were stupid or selfish enough to run out on his own without any help was a Hunter's specialty! Surely, she could do this.

He was hurt, she could smell it, and she could see him limping. He stopped to shoot zombies that were pooling around him. Now was her time to act. She exited the apartment room through a broken window, dropping twenty feet before landing with ease on the pavement, hiding herself behind a truck.

Growling quietly, she crawled underneath the truck, stopping only when the Survivor showed that he knew she was there.

The common zombies went down, and he had taken more hits that he should have. As he limped toward his sanctuary, a big red door that was so close, she decided to make her move.

Victoria crawled out into the warm sunlight, resting her claws against the pavement. She rested back on her haunches, readying a pounce, and upon instinct, she let out a loud Hunter yell.

But before she could leap, her victim was stolen from her when a Smoker appeared, as if from nowhere, and caught the Survivor in its slimy grasp. The Survivor, now helpless as the Smoker's tongue constricted his arm movement, was pulled up a staircase, and let out a terrified yell before his doom. The Smoker emerged, looking satisfied with how it did, carried a few hunks of meat from the Survivor and took off the opposite direction from Victoria, through an alleyway next to the Safe Room.

_"Blast it! I had him. The damn Smoker got lucky."_ she growled in frustration. She stared at the retreating Smoker as it disappeared behind a corner. It would only take a moment to catch up and pounce the Smoker and kill it instantly; Smoker's were fragile that way, at least to other Infected. Victoria knew better, though. Attacking a fellow Infected would solve nothing. Rotted meat tasted nothing like the fresh human meat, anyway.

Victoria turned and crawled away, feeling dejected at her lost kill. Growling sadly, she crawled away.

When she returned to their hiding spot, it was dark again. Victoria had spent the rest of the day searching for Scourge, trying to forget about her lost kill, but had no luck finding him, so she decided to go back to their hiding place and wait for him there. As she climbed into the apartment, there was a pile of human meat on the floor. Scourge was asleep curled up like a dog in the center of the bed, the scent of human blood covering him from head to blistered toe.

Obviously, he had brought the meat back for her, it cheered her up slightly, but she did not feel like eating right now. She ignored the precious meat for now, and crawled up onto the bed with Scourge. As she lowered herself onto the bed, she heard a mournful wail echoing in the night.

The Witch is still around?


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape or form. Please do not sue me.

Inform me of any typos I may have missed while proofreading. Feedback is much appreciated.

Chapter 2:

When Victoria woke the next morning, she could still hear the cries of the Witch. It was fainter now, but she was still close by. _"Why has she stayed here for so long? She should have moved by now. What force could possibly be keeping her here?" _To Victoria's knowledge, Witches didn't stay in one spot for too long, they would constantly change from secluded area to secluded area to keep from being disturbed. Something was wrong with this one though. It's cries were sadder, lonelier. Victoria almost felt sorry for it.

Mixed in with the cries of the Witch was something else, too. It wasn't there before, or she just didn't notice it until now. This sound was also sad, but less lonely. She couldn't tell what kind of Infected it was coming from.

Trying to look braver than she really was, Victoria gobbled down a few pieces of the no longer fresh meat sitting in the center of the room and left. It didn't take too long to find the Witch; the sobbing creature was sitting in the middle of the road, halfway in the sun and halfway in the shade. It didn't look nearly as sad as it sounded. Victoria jumped onto a rooftop and watched from a decent vantage point. Where was the owner of the other cry?

Victoria lowered herself onto a balcony just below her, being careful not to make any sudden sounds. She hadn't encountered a Witch as she was now, and she wasn't sure if she would attack other Infected.

_I shouldn't be doing this, why am I doing this…the Witch will annihilate me…She hates everything. She HATES EVERYTHING. Why am I doing this?_

She couldn't stop herself from moving towards the crying Infected. She crawled on all fours, setting one claw in front of the other. The Witch gasped when she saw her, glancing at her with those piercing red eyes. Victoria had encountered a Witch before, when she had been human. She almost didn't escape.

But this time around, the Witch ignored her and went back to crying. Still, Victoria proceeded with caution, slowly inching her way to the Witch's side. Victoria sat down, keeping a small distance between her and the "crying lady" as Scourge called her.

The way that the Witch spoke…Victoria could barely understand it. The most she could understand was _"…mother…mother….why…mother…" _Perhaps Witches had an entirely different language than other Infected. Or maybe her speech was being drowned out by the sobbing.

Victoria reached out to touch the Witch, instinctively trying to comfort her despite what she knew about these kinds of Infected. A loud, threatening growl stopped her.

Something small but heavy smashed into her and knocked her away from the Witch. Victoria stumbled back. Then she stumbled forward, and then backward again, then off to the side. While being thrown off balance in all directions, it occurred to Victoria that she was also being smothered (not that it made a real difference to a zombie, but it made it hard to tell if she was running towards a cliff or not.) The rather annoying laughter sealed the deal. She was being controlled by a Jockey.

_ "Damn it! Get off!"_ she shrieked, clawing at the pestering Jockey's backside. The Jockey did as commanded, and let her go immediately. Victoria growled, _"What did you do that for? I did nothing to you!"_

The Jockey cackled sadly, _"Ty must protect Sister, Ty promised to protect Sister, even after mother went away…When mother was around, Sister cried, but she was happy…when mother went away, Sister couldn't stop crying, and Ty couldn't stop laughing…Ty still can't stop laughing."_ It was true. Everything he had just told her was skewed and distorted with laughter, Victoria was quite amazed that she understood all of it.

_"Sister? You mean the crying one, don't you?_" The Jockey tried to answer, but he was laughing too hard. Instead, he managed a nod. _"Maybe I can help. How is she with talking?"_

_ "No good…no good no good…she don't talk much, doesn't talk much. She never talks to Ty anymore…"_

Victoria stood up, shaking herself off. The Witch began to wail uncontrollably at this point.

_"Mother! Mother, why. Why!"_

_"Is that all she says? What's wrong with her?"_

Jockey continued his endless sorrowful laughter, _"Sister believes mother left us purposefully. Sister's sad for the wrong reason."_

The Witch (Sister, apparently) had calmed down a bit. Victoria crawled up to her and sat down. Sister tensed, peeking at Victoria through her stained red claws, watching her every move, as if Victoria would attack her at any moment.

When Victoria did nothing, Sister doubled back over and started to cry again. Victoria looked up at the sky, then at the ground, observing the light and shade. Witches did not like the sunlight, even more than the Hunters. Sister was sitting almost directly in the sunlight, and the shade she was sitting in before was disappearing quickly as the sun climbed further into the sky.

The Jockey, Ty, was laughing madly by now. He was looking into the far off distance, watching something and laughing menacingly at it. Jockeys were so annoying. Victoria tried to ignore him. _"Uh…Sister? You're nearly in the sun now, you'll have to leave soon. I know how you don't like the sun,"_ Sister sobbed a few more times, not looking at her. Victoria placed one of her claws on Sister's bare shoulder, _"You're in the Survivors' path, too. It's not safe for you or Ty here. Come with me and I'll take you someplace where it's shady and dark all day, no matter where the sun is in the sky." _

Sister jerked away, freeing herself from Victoria's claw. She snapped Victoria an angry look; Victoria backed off, There was clearly no dealing with this Witch, She would have to find another way to move it. Ty was laughing more now, and it was in warning. Victoria turned to tell him to be quiet, but was quickly silenced by a loud noise.

Victoria nearly died again when she heard the Charger's howl. She could see it charging through mobs of zombies, but there were no Survivors nearby. Great, this is just what she needed. A Charger that attacked more than just Survivors. She turned back to Sister, _"We need to leave now, the Charger won't give us a head start if it sees us. Come on, get up!"_ Sister seemed to ignore her, and continued to cry, perhaps a bit louder than before. Victoria grunted,_ "Blast it! I'm not leaving you here."_

Victoria lunged forward, bumping Sister roughly forward with her shoulder. Sister tumbled over onto her hands and knees, letting out a wail in retort. Victoria hissed sharply at her, and Sister quieted down. Victoria nudged her again, and Sister moved forward, sniveling quietly as she went.

When she looked to see, the Charger had it's back to them. Victoria nudged Sister again, _"Hurry, into the alley."_

_ "Where is Ty?" _

_ "What?"_

_ "Ty isn't here…" _

Victoria twisted around, and saw Ty running at the Charger. Victoria howled, _"NO! You idiot!" _

She ordered Sister to say where she was then, feeling very outraged, stood up on her two legs and began to run at Ty and the Charger. No matter how fast she ran, though, she knew she would never reach him in time.

Ty had reached the Charger and was trying to jump onto its face. It's mutated arm swung at him in retaliation, slamming Ty into the wall. It wrapped the defenseless Jockey in its five thick fingers and began to pummel him into the ground. Ty never stopped laughing.

Blood boiling with anger, Victoria howled, lunging into the air and coming down onto the Charger's head. She balanced herself on it's shoulders and dug her claws into it's head, digging up as much rotting flesh as she could in her two hands. The Charger wailed, dropping Ty and focusing more on Victoria. It tried to grab her and throw her off, but with each attempt it made she would crawl to another space on it's large torso and begin to claw away at it.

Finally, it was able to grab her. It caught her by her bare leg and began to swing her in the air. It did so three times before slamming her into the ground hard enough to leave a small dent in the pavement. It shouted wildly and threw her thirty feet into the air.

Her Hunter instincts took control then. Victoria tucked and rolled as she landed, preventing further injury, and jumped back onto her feet. She exhaled sharply through her nose and growled. The Charger ran at her, ready to ram her with it's massive arm. Victoria crouched down, growling, and lunged at it. It struck her out of the air, and she slammed into the ground. Broken and battered, she tried to get back to her feet, but her legs weren't moving.

The Charger closed in on her quickly and, despite her best efforts to escape, captured her in its massive hand. It threw her again, much rougher and farther than before. She hit a streetlamp and slid to the ground, where she lay motionless.

Bellowing triumphantly, the Charger, the fight with Victoria completely wiping what little memory of Ty it had, promptly left. 

When it was clear that the Charger was gone for good, Ty came hopping over, his laughter never stopping, but dulling into a pitiful sound that sounding both like he was laughing and crying at the same time.

His hand twitching with mania, he gently nudged Victoria's lifeless body with his elongated fingers, waiting for her reaction. Her body was sitting in the upright position, leaning up against the streetlamp with her head lolled back to the right. Her dark hair was a mess, grimy with blood that was half hers, half someone else's.

_"Lady…?"_

He could hear Sister, grief stricken beyond belief, wailing madly, shouting "mother" at the skies.

_ "This is all Ty's fault…If it wasn't for Ty, the lady would still be living…or…dead-living,"_ He clawed at his own face, laughing though he was grieving inside.

He looked over at Sister, who was sitting in the shade, crying and sobbing, then back at Victoria. He kept looking back and forth between the two, unsure of what to do next. Victoria had wanted to move them, and get them out of the area. But now that Victoria was…no longer there, who would convince Sister to move again?

There was movement in the left corner of his eye. Ty turned his head, and saw another Hunter. This one was wearing a purple hooded jacket. When the Hunter saw Victoria, he gave a sudden jerking movement, but he didn't immediately rush at her. He slowly inched forward, stopping only a few inches from her, and observed her silently for a while. Then he drew back, and looked at Ty, instinctively knowing that he was not the culprit. _"Friend not dead. Look. Friend still breathing."_

Ty calmed down enough to see things more clearly. There was a small rise and fall in Victoria's chest.

The Hunter moved down to nudge her, and she suddenly jerked back to life. She shrieked madly, as a Hunter would, and tried to jump away. She had a hard time, though. Her legs were broken. All that came from her attempt was a face plant into the pavement, and a tiny yelp of pain. She panted frantically, and began to claw her way forward. The male Hunter placed his claws on her shoulders, halting her movement. Eventually, her panting slowed to even breaths, and she collapsed.

_ "Big fight. Friend almost dead for good. Find place to rest."_ he told her softly, his broken speech more soothing than expected.

The male Hunter nudged himself underneath Victoria's stomach, lifting her onto his back. He looked at Ty,_ "Come with me."_

And suddenly, Ty was compelled to listen. It was just like what happened with Victoria. He didn't know what happened, but she had spoken with such authority, and he felt that he had no choice but to listen. Before he could listen to this new Hunter, though, he had to make something known, _"Ty can't leave without Sister!"_

The Hunter looked at him, then over to where he had heard crying. _"The crying lady?"_

_ "Yes. Sister is the crying lady. Ty won't leave without her."_

_ "Fine." The Hunter seemed skeptical, "Go get crying lady, then we leave."_

Ty laughed nervously,_ "Sister never listens to Ty, only to mother and injured lady, and she won't move in the sunlight."_

The Hunter looked over at Sister, and exhaled slowly, _"Friend will rest with Sister until morning tomorrow. Friend will be healed then."_

She wasn't entirely sure, but Victoria thought she had heard Scourge just a moment ago. It was faint, and she could barely hear anything through all that ringing in her ears, but she had heard that familiar broken speech of his. If he had gotten here sooner, she thought, maybe she could have avoided that experience with the Charger, but she regretted nothing when she attacked that one armed Infected. Even now as Scourge dropped her off in a secluded spot in the alley way, injured and broken, she felt satisfied with herself at what she had done.

If not for her, Ty would be dead, Perhaps Sister as well, as no one on this earth without a hearing condition could miss her sorrowful cries, and if the Charger had stuck around, maybe he would have found her.

She felt Sister snuggle up against her, perhaps for comfort, and Victoria only sighed in response, too tired to wonder why a Witch was being this friendly. Sister still cried, as all Witches did, but now, they sounded different. When Sister cried, it had a happy tone to it, if anyone would believe it.

Before falling asleep, Victoria heard Sister mumble something, her speech distorted with sobs. It was barely understandable, but Victoria was able to discover what she had, and she didn't have time to think anything of it before she nodded off.

Sister had called her "mother."


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape or form. Please do not sue me.

Inform me of any typos I may have missed while proofreading. Feedback is much appreciated.

Chapter 3:

Daniel Carter sat on the bottom steps of his front porch, smoking a cigarette and trying to blow smoke rings. He held his rifle firmly with it perched on his knee, the remains of a recent horde scattered around the yard.

His house was located on top of a small hill in a small town. It was a nice home, two stories, five rooms, three bathrooms, and hardly a neighbor in sight, at least not until you head down the hill. He had inherited this home from his grandfather after he had passed away, three years ago. When Daniel had moved in, there was a lot of useless junk that he thought he would never need, so he sold most of it, except for the assortment of guns and the swords he found in the attic. When the zombies attacked, he and his girlfriend, Angie, had boxed themselves up in their secluded area. Every now and then, a horde would find them, perhaps a few Special Infected as well, but it was nothing they couldn't handle.

A two-way radio was set up inside the house, away from any harm. It crackled with life with each turn of the dial, but there was no answer when they called for help. Often times, Daniel would scan the stations, frustration clear on his face. He was looking for a woman named Victoria Blanc, his ex-wife and the mother of his children. He constantly worried for the welfare of his children, and when he would sleep, he would toss and turn with nightmares about them. He once even dreamed that Victoria had turned into an Infected, and had devoured their children.

"No," he had said to Angie during that night. His voice was shaky and he sounded unsure of himself, "Victoria would never do that. She loves those kids more than anything, nothing would make her do that…Nothing!"

Daniel readied his rifle as a Smoker jumped down from the fence, coughing and wheezing as it stumbled and landed on it's knees. He squeezed the trigger, and his shot tore through the air, hitting the Smoker in the head. He lowered his rifle, scoffing at himself. "Hmmph, it could have been more accurate. Maybe I should have hunted more with Tommy." he reached for the bottle of bear sitting next to his foot and found it empty as he brought it up to his mouth. Daniel scowled and tossed the bottle away from him, hearing it shatter against a tree.

Tommy Blanc, his ex-wife's brother, the caretaker to his children should something ever happen to him or Victoria, was a well known hunter in this county. He was, until the zombies showed up. Now Daniel wouldn't be surprised if Tommy was now the best zombie killer in the county. They used to hunt a lot together, until he and Victoria divorced and Tommy no longer had a reason to try to be his friend.

He fished around in the large ice chest sitting next to him, aching for another beer.

"Danny?" Angie stepped out onto the porch, dressed in her pajamas of all things. "Danny, could I talk to you?"

"What is it? Make it quick." His hand touched nothing but the bottom of the ice chest. He sighed as he realized his problem: he had no more beer. He grumbled and slouched down a bit.

"I just checked the fridge and…everything's either gone bad or we've eaten it already. We're out of medical supplies too, and pretty soon we'll run out of ammo for the guns," then, hesitantly, she added, "Maybe it's time we left, go find other survivors." She clasped her hands together nervously, waiting for his response.

The set of Daniel's shoulders were tense. He did not move from his spot, he did not turn to look at her, but his silence was enough of an answer. Though he could agree with everything he said, he still felt uncomfortable with leaving his home. He knew that if he left, he wouldn't be coming back to it, and even if he did end up coming back, the house might not be there anymore.

But his children. They were not here with him, and the more time passed, the more he feared for their safety.

They heard the radio crackle and whine from inside the house. They both turned they heads toward the open door, the whine and crackling becoming clearer and giving way to static distorted voices.

"…ello…anyon…there…is anyone out th…"

Angie went back into the house. Daniel waited a moment before following her. When he reached the kitchen, where the radio was, resting on the counter. Angie was messing with the dial on the radio, speaking into the microphone asking if anyone was there, and pleading for them to respond. She turned the dial one final time, and the static cleared.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" a man asked from the other side. The voice was low and deep, but friendly, and concerned. "We've got children here, and we need some help. Is anyone out there?"

Angie let out a relieved laugh, and replied, "Yes, this is Angie Auteberry. Where are you?"

"We're in Brunswick, we're about to head out though. Too much action, you know."

"Brunswick…" Angie repeated quietly, then turned to Daniel, "That's not too far away from here. Maybe a few days, but we can make it." she turned back to the mic, "I think we can help you. We're survivors., like you and we were about to head out as well. If you want our help, head north and meet us at the Burger Tank in Verzinsel. Do you have any supplies with you?"

"Yes, but we're going to run out soon. We're going to get more soon, when we find a good hiding place for the children."

"All right. We'll meet you in Verzinsel then. Hey, before I go, what's your name?"

She could hear shouting on the other side before the man answered, "Coach. You can call me Coach. We'll meet you there, but hurry. We'll leave if you take too long,"

"Right. We'll be there in a few days," Angie shut the radio off, and turned to Daniel. There was a skeptical look on his face, and his shoulders had not yet relaxed. "They've got kids with them Daniel. Who knows, maybe it's your kids."

"Do you know what the chances of them being John and Mary are? They could be anyone's kids,"

"I know, but still, I don't want to just abandon them. I told them that we would help them, so we should go. We'll die if we just stay here anyway."

Daniel clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth together in frustration. He was about to say something in protest, but then caught himself. He sighed and his shoulders slumped, "Fine. We'll go. Get everything that we'll need for the trip, we're leaving within the hour."

Angie managed a small smile, and nodded Daniel. She left the kitchen and turned into her bedroom to pack. Daniel called out after her, "Pack only what you need, we need to travel light if we even hope to get there in one piece."

Before long, they were both packed and ready. Daniel carried a duffle bag across his shoulders that had three days worth of clothing for him and Angie, and Angie carried a black bag filled with water bottles and snacks and a decorative sword strapped across her back..

"Okay," Daniel adjusted the duffle bag so it fitted more comfortably, "We ready to go?"

Angie looked everything over, making sure she had everything, then nodded. Daniel took a deep breath, and went to the door. As he slowly opened it, he stuck his rifle out first, ready to fire at any zombies that had stumbled into his yard while they were busy packing.

Strangely, no zombies had gathered around his house yet, which was either good or bad. "Be careful." he told Angie, his voice barely above a whisper. It had gotten too quiet outside. Normally he could here sounds of the Infected roaming about in the streets, but now there was nothing. It was totally silent.

They made it out onto the streets, and they looked around. No Infected. Daniel lowered his rifle, scanning the area. Nothing.

"Where are the zombies? Did you actually kill them all before we left?" Angie asked. Daniel shook his head.

"No, no something's wrong. I think all of them ran away,"

"What were they running from?"

Daniel shook his head, "I don't know, but we need to hurry out of here. Stick close to me and move quietly, I don't like this one bit."

As they walked, there was a knot forming in the pit of Daniel's stomach. And the further they walked, the tighter the knot became. There were two of them, only two. Just him and Angie. The news had recommended that Survivors should travel in groups of four.

They came across a warehouse. There was a hole in the large door in the front of the building, it looked like something rather large had torn right through it to get at something.

Just looking at it made them feel uneasy, so they didn't stay near it for long. They kept walking until they reached a nearby gas station. Angie went inside to search for more food and drinks while Daniel waited outside and kept watch. However, it seemed pretty pointless to him. There still wasn't any Infected around to keep watch for.

"No Hunters…" he muttered, "no Smokers, no Jockeys, no nothing. What the hell is going on?"

He looked out at the gas station's parking lot. There wasn't much to see, really; there were a few abandoned cars parked here and there, and the gas pumps seemed pretty ordinary. It didn't make any sense, he thought, they should have been attacked by now. It just didn't make sense…

Something broke through his thoughts. There was an odd crunching sound that echoed in the silent night air. Daniel knitted his brow in confusion as he turned his head left and right, looking for the source of the sound. "Hello?" he called, "Is anyone out there? Hellooo?"

The reply was a loud angry bellow, and his heart sank.

"Danny! I've got the stuff," Angie came out with an armful of snacks and drinks, "Lets go before something finds us."

"It's too late." Daniel muttered, his rifle slipped from his fingers and clattered against the ground.

"What are you talking about?"

He shook his head, and a Tank made itself known as it smashed through a brick wall that separated the gas station from a nearby fast food restaurant.

"It's hopeless…" he said sadly, Angie dropped everything she had been holding. The Tank roared, and ripped a large slab of concrete out of the ground. "…we shouldn't have left."

**-Author Note's-**

_Versinzel is obviously a false town. In fact, the word versinzel is Dutch for "fabrication"._

_I don't like this chapter as much, but my opinion of it is no match for the opinion of the readers...right?  
_


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape or form. Please do not sue me.

Inform me of any typos I may have missed while proofreading. Feedback is much appreciated.

Chapter 4:

_ The Charger roared, slamming his beefy fist into the dirt in his frustration. He could remember things, and remember them well. And with his remembrance came the frustration and the anger. He didn't want to remember. To be able to remember anything at this state just bewildered him, and sent him deeper into his fits of rage._

_ He had woken up to an empty house, and at first he walked about, shouting names of various loved ones. He had been startled at how his voice had changed, and how unwell he felt. His head was pounding, and his right arm was very sore, like he had slept on it wrong, or he had been in an arm punching match with his sister again. Then he noticed exactly what was wrong. His arms. Where one was giant and threatening, the other was wimpy and useless._

_ The realization had sunk in somewhat, but denial stopped it before it could actually go anywhere. He tore up the house, throwing furniture and punching holes in walls. It must have been hours before he calmed down enough. The house was in shambles by then; doors hung off of hinges, and pictures had been knocked off of the walls and shattered. _

_ He roared again, this time in sorrow. This wasn't what they had planned. He was supposed to be protecting them. Now he had turned and he didn't even know where any of his loved ones were._

_ Finding no other reason for him to stay in that house anymore, the Charger left, his larger arm dragging lazily against the ground, his shoulder slumped low. _

They traveled during the night. Due to Sister's 'I-very-much-dislike-this' attitude to sunlight, it was the only thing they could do. It had been a few days since Victoria's gruesome fight with the Charger, and since then she had developed an unreasonable fear of them, but her wounds had healed up quiet nicely, thanks to all the time everyone spent caring for her.

Whenever possible, Sister would snuggle close to Victoria, seeking comfort more than anything else. Victoria, to her own astonishment, would let her. Ever since Sister had uttered the word "mother" to her, things had taken a strange turn. Now, that gap in her memory seemed more significant. And now, since Sister was doing it, the idea that Victoria was their new mother was firmly planted in Ty's poor mutated brain. Now he wouldn't stop calling her mother after every other word he spoke to her.

Scourge seemed to be the only one unchanged by the title Victoria was given. He still addressed her as "friend", and every time she would fail at catching a Survivor (she was failing a lot, but she was also improving quickly) he would bring food to her. Though she had told him time and time again that she preferred to hunt for herself, she felt happy that his opinion of her had not changed with her new name among the two new Infected in their group.

Victoria lay atop the roof of an abandoned house, head resting on her hands, letting the rays of the sun warm her back. She had been up there since dawn, nearly six hours ago. She was staring out at the carnage that was left in the wake of the apocalypse when it had first began; she often tried to think about her missing memories and that would lead to a sever headache or raging frustration, but she mostly just stared.

She thought back again to who this 'Daniel' person was. She knew he had once played a big part in her previous life, but not anymore. Especially not now. It didn't matter, it shouldn't matter to her now.

But she could tell that this Daniel person was connected with the large gap in her memory. It really bothered her that she could hardly remember anything in her past life, and it bothered her even more that there are so many hints, but nothing brain jolting that would totally jar her memory. It wasn't exactly what she'd call fair, but she'd have to learn to deal with it.

Annoyed, Victoria realized that she needed to distract herself somehow. Then, the wind changed, and it brought a delicious smell to her. She lifted her head and sniffed the air, and inhaled deeply once for good measure. Survivors.

They were near, probably about two hundred feet away. Okay, that was fine. She would be able to get there in no time. There were only two Survivors, so that made her chances of success even better.

Victoria lowered herself to the second story window and crawled inside the house. It was very dark inside, but that was the reason they chose this house in the first place. Sister was sitting in the corner of the room weeping as usual, and Ty was jumping around, giggling like a maniac on an adrenaline high. Scourge wasn't on the second floor, he was downstairs sleeping on a torn up couch.

Everything seemed to be in order. Victoria turned around to jump back outside.

_ "Mother…where are you going?"_

Victoria stopped as she was climbing onto the windowsill. She turned her head to look at Sister, who was looking back at her with a concerned stare. _"I'm heading out for a bit. I won't be long, don't tell Scourge where I am."_

Sister sniveled a bit, still staring at her. Victoria knew that she didn't want her to go, but she needed to. Those Survivors weren't exactly going to kill themselves. Maybe._ "I promise, I won't be long. Just wait here,"_

_ "O-okay…"_

_"Good, I'll be back."_ Victoria looked at Ty. He was too…senseless to know she would be missing. And Scourge was asleep still. The only person who would know of her absents was Sister. Victoria climbed up onto the windowsill, glancing at Sister once more before leaping off and landing nearly twenty feet away. She sprang up onto her feet and started running, cutting through yards and slipping in and out of the shadows.

She spotted them, finally. A dark-haired man and a shaggy looking guy. By the looks of it, they were looting some of the houses. She ducked down behind a fence.

"…there's a new Special Infected now. No one's ever really seen it, it swims around in the water and then picks off it's victims one at a time," said the dark-haired man, jiggling the doorknob of an old house.

"No shit? Heh, guess we'll have to find an evac that's not boat related."

"I don't think it can sink boats, Stan. Not big ones, anyway."

The dark-haired man left the door and went over to the window and smashed it in with the butt of his gun. He leaned in and took a look around, then brought himself back out. "Nothing living in here, come on."

Stan moved slowly over to him. Victoria noticed he was limping, and breathed in deeply through her nose. Fresh blood; Stan was injured. A crooked grin spread across her face. They both went into the house to do their looting, and Victoria followed silently, staying outside the house. She peeked in through the door, left ajar when they entered the house, and saw the dark-haired man go upstairs while Stan when to the kitchen. What idiots, she thought in amusement. She entered the home, keeping as silent as possible as she followed Stan into the kitchen.

She crawled underneath a table and watched him. He was having a hard time moving around, and was favoring his injured leg. He cursed under his breath and started to move things around, looking for things that Survivors would need. As he pulled out several items out of drawers and cupboards (mostly items that were useless to him as a Survivor), Victoria waited for a proper moment to strike. She figured that, since there were two of them and not one, even if they were separated, the usual tactic of ripping them up till they died took too long, and the Survivor upstairs would hear the commotion and would come down to save Stan before she could kill him. If she was going to do this right, and kill the man without making too much noise, she would have to go right for the throat.

"Damn…can't find anything in this mess, just junk." Stan muttered. He turned and leaned with his back against the counter, trying to shift his weight off of his leg. "Man, this hurts-wish we could just leave already."

Stan huffed and hoisted himself up to where he could sit on the countertop. He lifted up his hurt leg and inspected the damage. To see all that blood coming off of a human-Victoria could barely contain herself. Involuntarily, she let out a deep, bloodthirsty growl. Stan froze up for a moment, then grabbed his gun. For a few tense moments, he looked around, eyes searching, and Victoria remained still. Then, Stan relaxed a bit, but never came off guard.

Victoria nearly growled at him again, but contained herself. She didn't want to risk revealing herself too early, so she just lay underneath the table and kept silent.

"Hey, Miguel? Can we leave soon, I don't like it here."

Blast it. She needed to act fast.

Victoria crept out of her hiding spot while his head was turned at the doorway. She looked up at him; his neck was showing, and so vulnerable. She drew herself back, then leaped at him, shrieking involuntarily.

"Oh-_SHIT_." Stan tumbled and fell from the counter, avoiding Victoria's pounce by inches. She growled and growled at him. He was on his back, trying to get back onto his feet but having trouble. Victoria jumped down, pinning him down. "Miguel, Miguel! Help me, there's a Hunter here!" He was screaming in terror by now, but Victoria quickly silenced him. In one swift motion, she dove down and sunk her teeth into his neck. He made a strangled gargling noise, and she tasted his blood on her tongue. It tasted so good, and it tasted even better when she was the one who killed the prey. It made her feel so…accomplished.

"Stan! Are you okay?" The dark-haired man (Miguel? That sounded so familiar…) came rushing down the stairs. Victoria stood up, blood dripping from her chin. She gave a satisfied howl as Miguel came into the kitchen. He stared for a moment, baffled at what he saw. "Oh my god-Stan! Vicky? What the hell did you do?"

Victoria turned her head to him, grinning at him insanely. One down, one to go.

She leaped again, screaming, and tackled him to the ground. She tried to bite his neck the same way she did with Stan, but Miguel defended himself, substituting his neck for his arm. Victoria bit down hard on his forearm, growling madly. "What's gotten into you?" he asked, and smacked her head with his pistol. Victoria yelped and staggered away. It took only a moment to compose herself, but by that time Miguel was on his feet, his gun aimed right at her. "Vicky, it's me, Miguel. Remember? Miguel Reyes? We've known each other since the second grade. Snap out of it!"

And suddenly, Victoria caught onto something. This man…knew who she was? Is that why he's addressing her as 'Vicky'? She struggled with herself, feeling her chest constricting as she tried to understand who this man was.

Her head was hurting, it was a blinding pain, and she couldn't make it stop. She wanted to blame the man, she wanted to tear into the man, rip him to shreds where he stood. But…she couldn't…She didn't want to blame him, and she didn't want to kill him. So badly, she wanted to talk to him…but-

"Victoria?"

_"NO!" _she screamed, her voice coming out as a normal Hunter shriek to Miguel. She turned and ran, leaping at a closed window. It shattered upon impact, and she stumbled as she landed on the filthy ground. She regained her balance and kept running, her pace faster than normal. She ran all the way back to the hideout, and she jumped up to the second story window, climbing in and finding a corner to hide herself in. She held onto herself, trembling and muttering for a while until Sister found her, about an hour later.

Sister seemed to sensed her plight, and snuggled against her. Victoria shivered violently, uncontrollably. Sister's presence seemed to comfort her a little, but it wasn't anything noticeable. And she kept muttering something, but Sister couldn't tell what she was trying to say. Try as she might, Sister could not bring Victoria out of her terrified state, so instead she just held her as she trembled, hoping that she would be able to be able to pull herself together.

_"A frightened Hunter? Huh, didn't think I'd see the day,"_

A Smoker sat atop of the roof across the street. He'd been watching them for a while now, since the fight with the Charger. He'd been intrigued with the way they were acting around each other, and was interested to learn more about them. It wasn't easy though, because the one addressed as 'Mother' was constantly on the alert, and his coughing fits were more than easy to track. So he kept his distance, relying on his sense of smell rather than sight to keep track of them. Often times he would fall behind, and would have to travel during the day to catch up with them.

In the eyes of the Smoker, Mother was a brave individual. Hell, she was brave enough (or maybe just idiotic) to take on a fully developed Charger! But to be frightened so easily by a Survivor? It just didn't make sense.

He was there when she attacked the Survivors. She was doing well until the dark-haired one addressed her. And then she ran off as if she'd been set on fire, and he followed her, ignoring the remaining Survivor.

When he found her again, she was cowering in the arms of the Witch, Sister. It was almost pitiful, but Smoker wanted to find out more about what happened. As far as he could tell, the Survivor had only addressed her by a different name, the only weapon he had on him after Mother had pounced him being a small pistol. What was so terrifying about that?

_ "He called her by the name of…Vicky…and Victoria." _He wheezed,_ "Could that have been her name in the past life?"_ He wanted to know more. Obviously, there was more to 'Mother' than he originally thought, and he would have to learn more about her. But he would have to confront her to do that, and to approach her now in this state could pose a serious problem for him. The male Hunter, Scourge, could see him as a threat, and attack him at first sight. The same result could come from Sister or the Jockey.

Smoker thought for a long time until finally coming to a decision. He would wait until this state of cowardice blew over, and Mother returned to her normal self. When that happened, he would approach her, show that he meant know harm, and try to gain her trust.

Until then, he would wait and watch.

**Author Notes:**_ Potential new Special Infected characters? Perhaps. This chapter took quite a bit of thinking to write, and I'm still not completely happy with it. Oh well. Tell me what you think._


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape or form. Please do not sue me.

Inform me of any typos I may have missed while proofreading. Feedback is much appreciated.

Chapter 5: 

_"Friend. We must leave."_ Scourge spoke slowly, as if he was actually trying to speak to her properly. Victoria was looking at the ground, the remains of a recent kill dripping from her chin. After a full day of hunting, they had finally come across a rather unfortunate group of Survivors. It was rather easy to do them in (they had no ammo and were already very injured) and the feast was plentiful. Victoria was very pleased with how well they had taken them down.

Ty was the first to attack. They were running across a bridge when he snuck up on the largest Survivor and jumped onto his head and began to steer him away from the group. The large Survivor struggled to resist his influence in vain as Ty drove him towards the edge of the bridge. He jumped away at the last minute, kicking his legs and shoving the Survivor over the edge, and the Survivor fell to the bottom of the ditch below, where Victoria was waiting to salvage him.

The other three Survivors had meant to kill Ty, but he had gone as suddenly as he had came, and they had more to worry about that a small Jockey. They ran ahead, one member splitting away from the group in his panic. Scourge was the one to take care of him as the Survivor made a wrong turn into an alley. When the other Survivors caught up to him finally, Scourge had gone and left a heaping pile of gore behind.

One of the more stupid of the Survivors, also panicked, refused to noticed the fierce growls as Victoria chased her, leaping from building to building. Victoria pounced, landing perfectly on top of the Survivor. He cracked his head against the ground, making a strangled noise as Victoria quickly killed him with a swipe at his throat. The remaining Survivor took a detour down an alley, where she was quite positive the three Infected would not follow her. That was when she heard the crying.

But it was too late to avoid her. The Survivor stumbled over a crying figure and landed right in front of her. Sister had been hiding, just as her Mother had told her to, but this Survivor had found her. Sister howled in anger and frustration and quickly plunged her claws into the Survivor's gut, ripping her open with a sickening splatter. When Victoria found her, she had said that she was proud at what Sister had done, and even though that scared the hell out of her, it was true.

After the massacre, they gathered the bodies up into one place; underneath the bridge, and began to eat. Ty finished quickly and began to hop around, bugging the others purposefully while they continued to eat their share of the food. He kept going until Victoria shouted at him harshly to stop. The rest of the feast went on in silence after that, save for Ty's involuntary laughter.

_ "Where are we going?"_ Victoria said finally, licking the blood from her chin. Scourge scooted closer to her, trying to look at her face but she kept her gaze firmly on the ground beneath her. Scraps of the food she'd just ingested spattered the area around her. Her eating had gotten very sloppy since she'd turned into a zombie.

_"Don't…know. Sun rise soon. We must leave."_

Victoria looked at Sister. She was playing with Ty, or attempting to. Ty was giggling, jumping onto her back and she was trying not to get angry at him, but little growls of warning would come out anyway. _"You're right. We need to leave."_ she said quietly, and Scourge tilted his head at her.

_ "Friend acting strange…something is wrong?"_

_"No."_ Victoria shook her head,_ "Nothing is wrong. Let's go."_ She turned and barked orders for Sister and Ty to follow, and they did so without question. Scourge never stopped wondering about her. While they continued their travels, he would ask her every once in a while if something was bothering her, and she would give him the very same answer. 'No'. After a while he stopped asking and just walked beside her, his head hung low as if ashamed about something. 

Sister walked slowly and observed her mother from a short distance, silently wondering about her. It had been about a week since she had came back trembling and mumbling as if she'd seen something more horrifying than herself. And ever since then she hadn't quite returned to normal. Sister moaned sadly and curled her long claws together as she wondered.

Her previous mother acted the same way sometimes, but then her previous mother wasn't like this one. The previous mother hadn't been a Hunter. Believe it or not, the previous mother had been a Spitter, and she had done a damn fine job of taking care of her and Ty whenever she could. She had found them when they woke for the first time. They followed her for a little while, feeding off her kills and sleeping with her for comfort.

One day she became distant, non responsive to their calls for her. Sometimes she just sat their while Ty and Sister would play and just stare off into the distance, much like Mother Victoria would often do. If Sister didn't know any better, she would say that their previous mother had the same problem as Victoria did. Mother Victoria was much smarter than the previous mother was (perhaps that was the problem with Mother Victoria.) One day a lone Survivor attacked them, nearly killed them both of them when the previous mother finally noticed and stepped in to fight.

She only got one good acid spit in before the Survivor cut her down with a machete. It was tragic but to be expected since a Spitter wasn't meant for close combat, in fact, she wasn't supposed to make herself known at all. The Survivor had apparently forgotten about Sister and Ty and ran off, probably to find more zombies to kill. For several days, Sister remained at the previous mother's side and cried.

Ty was the one who got her to move away from the previous mother's further decaying body, but she stopped after a while of walking just to cry. Two days later, Mother Victoria showed up and tackled that feral Charger. Though Sister could tell that this Hunter was very new to fighting other Infected (it was made further obvious when she lost horribly) but still it was amazing that Mother Victoria was already so protective.

But now she was acting just the way the previous mother was before she died. This worried Sister, and she had no intention of losing Mother Victoria.

When dawn came and they found a place to rest until night fell, Sister waited for her Mother to fall asleep before going to lay on top of her. She cried a bit as Victoria began to mumble things in her sleep.

Ty came in later when Victoria had woken up and reported seeing a single Survivor trying to get into their hiding place. As expected her Mother left to deal with the situation. _"Is Mother going to be okay?"_ Ty asked in his usual giggly speech. _"Ty thinks Mother has been acting very strange lately."_

Sister didn't say anything to him. She just went about her normal crying routine and pretended not to have heard his question.

Victoria came back as she normally did and went to lie back down, and just like normal, she allowed Sister to lay on top of her. After a few minutes like that, Scourge came in with a severed arm in his teeth. He stared at Victoria for a brief moment before dropping the bloody appendage right in front of her. He turned and then left without saying a word to her.

Then Sister realized that she had no real reason to worry for the new Mother Victoria. Even if she was acting strangely, she wouldn't die. They had Scourge there to protect her, and as long as he was there nothing very bad would happen. And if something bad did happen, they would still have Scourge to take care of them. Right? 

The sun set very slowly, and everyone seemed anxious to get out and moving again. Scourge had taken the lead while Victoria lagged behind, both on high alert. Sister and Ty were in-between them, also keeping watch. The town they were currently passing through was a quiet one. There was usually the moans of Infected, but this town was completely silent, not that any of them minded.

Sister watched as Victoria jumped up onto a broken wall and observed it. Just over the wall was an old-looking building that had a giant hole in it. They went over to it to inspect out of curiosity and found a giant mush of gore there. Victoria bent over and sniffed the mush and recoiled as if she'd been shocked. _"Friend?" _Scourge asked when he saw her reaction. She stared at him and then looked down at the red mush. _"Something is wrong?"_

She shook her head, _"No. Just thought I…This scent seems familiar."_

Sister looked at the red mush that Victoria was now currently hunched over and saw a little black bag next to it._ "Mother…? There's something there,"_ Victoria saw the bag and picked it up and began to go through it the best she could. She managed to open the flap and several bottles fell from it and scattered around her feet. She glanced down at the bottles once before looking back to the bag. There was something written there inside of the bag but she couldn't see what it was with just the light of the moon.

_"What is it?"_ Sister asked quietly, so quietly that she wasn't quiet sure if Victoria had heard it. She watched as her mother tried to get a better look at what was inside of the bag by tilting it towards the dim light of the moon, and saw the fangs that she bared when the light did not meet her requirements._ "Mother?"_

_ "This bag smells familiar too." _Victoria mumbled,_ "It's weird."_

_ "Can Ty eat the meat?" _

_ "Yeah, sure."_ she replied without thinking, and Ty began to scarf down the red mush by the handful.

Scourge sniffed the bag that Victoria was still holding and tilted his head in a puzzled gesture. _"Not familiar to me. Friend of friend?"_

_ "I don't…know,"_

Sister could see the look on her face. She was frowning and clutching the bag in her bloodied fingers, looking troubled. _"I think this may have belonged to someone I knew before._" Victoria sniffed the bag again and growled lightly, _"I don't think it was anyone I liked."_

There was a loud howling laughter from Ty. He had finished off the red mush and jumped onto Victoria's back. She leaned over a bit, but then straightened herself as much as she could to support the added weight. She growled at him in warning but he did not move. She heaved a sigh, tightening her grip on the bag _"We should go. I don't like it here,"_

Just before they left, Sister spotted a house hidden behind some trees. It looked like it had been abandoned only just recently, and bodies of several Infected surrounded it. Victoria had noticed it too. She was staring at it as they passed and had a strange look on her face, as if she was trying to remember something, and it hurt to even think about remembering. Then she turned away from the house and yelled at them to hurry up, as if she couldn't get away from this town sooner.

Dawn broke again just as they found another abandoned house a few miles away. As soon as they were inside Victoria found a corner to lie down in and fell asleep promptly. This time, Sister did not lie down with her.

Victoria had brought that black bag with her, and she was sleeping with it clutched tightly against her chest. About midday, Sister approached Victoria's sleeping form and tried to take the bag from her. It took a few tries as Victoria nearly woke and Sister's claws kept scratching and poking her arms. Finally she took the bag from her arms and scooted away from the slumbering female Hunter.

She looked at it for a few moments, turning it over several times, trying to find something significant about it that would bother her mother. She found nothing in particular. Then she looked inside of the bag and found strange markings there. She tilted it towards the light. There was something written inside the bag, but she couldn't read it.

A  
N  
G  
I  
E 

What in the world did that mean?

_"If Mother dislikes the bag, why does she keep it with her?_" Ty asked, appearing suddenly by Sister's side. Sister glanced at him once, trying to think of an answer but finding none. She placed the bag gently back onto Victoria and backed away.

_"Ty?"_ she began hesitantly, not wanting to ask this question but felt like she should, _"Do you think that Mother will end up…dead? Like the other one?"_

Ty laughed, but Sister wasn't sure if that was just him or if it were in a mocking way._ "This Mother is different…Ty thinks she will be around for a long time. He thinks she will be around for a very long time."_

_"But how long is that?"_ Sister couldn't help but wonder as Victoria began to mumble in her sleep again. She didn't wait for Ty to answer as she climbed over and snuggled against Victoria's side. Ty, because he just couldn't sit still for very long, left after a few moments and without his constant laughter, it was finally silent in the room.

Yes, she knew that Mother Victoria would be around for a lot longer than the previous mother would be, but there was still something wrong that could endanger exactly how long Mother Victoria would stay. Something troubling her mind, distracting her from what was going on. If this didn't stop soon, then Victoria would surely die. Just as the previous mother had.

_**Author Notes:** This was such a bitch to write but I'm glad I got it done. Feels like a bit of an accomplishment kind of. _


End file.
